RESUMO
BACKGROUND@#Bloating is a common gastrointestinal complaint which is difficult to treat.@*OBJECTIVE@#This study investigated the efficacy and compliance of a formulation called KAASER comprised of Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague seed, Zingiber officinale Roscoe. rhizome and Piper nigrum L. berry in the treatment of functional bloating.@*DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTION@#A total of 106 patients with functional bloating, between 20 and 50 years of age, participated in this double-blind randomized controlled trial. Patients were divided into 3 parallel groups that received 500 mg of placebo, dimethicone or KAASER, three times a day for 2 weeks.@*MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES@#The frequency and severity of bloating were primary outcomes, while the frequencies of eructation, defecation, borborygmus and early satiation were secondary outcomes. All parameters were evaluated at the beginning (week 0), and also weeks 2, 4 and 10 of the study, through self-report checklists with a scoring system.@*RESULTS@#Among the 84 patients who completed the study, the frequency and severity of bloating (P < 0.001), the frequencies of eructation, defecation and borborygmus (P = 0.03) were significantly improved in the group receiving KAASER (36 patients) compared with the dimethicone (35 patients) and placebo (35 patients) groups, during the 3 phases of follow-up. These significant differences persisted through the 2 and 8 weeks of follow-ups after cessation of medication (week 4 and 10). In early satiation, no significant differences were observed among the 3 groups.@*CONCLUSION@#The results showed that KAASER can be effectively used to treat patients suffering from bloating. Bloating, eructation, defecation and borborygmus in the KAASER group remained significantly improved after 2 and 8 weeks of cessation of medication, making this mechanism an interesting area for further investigation.@*TRIAL REGISTRATION@#Registration trial IRCT2015100324327N on Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials.
RESUMO
Traditional medicines, according to the World Health Organization, are defined as "the sum total of the knowledge, skill, and practices based on the beliefs, theories, and experiences indigenous to different cultures that are based and developed historically. Due to the increasing uses of traditional medicines worldwide, it seems that cognition of their principles and foundations are necessary." The two important schools of Traditional Persian Medicine [TPM] and Traditional Chinese Medicine [TCM] have many similar concepts; one of the most fundamental is the theory of Arkan in TPM and theory of five elements in TCM. This is a review study, which extracted, classified and compared related concepts in TPM and TCM, conducted on original sources. To use the experience of other researchers and to find published articles in this regard, the Web databases SID, Magiran, Iranmedex, Google scholar, Pubmed and Embase were searched. The results are categorized under 12 categories. Generally, although there are considerable similarities between theory and functions of Arkan in TPM and theory of five elements in TCM, there are differences between the basic principles and the outcomes of these two theories. The comparison between these two theories shows that although they derive from similar theoretical and philosophical origins, that TPM arises from a monotheistic [not necessarily Islamic] viewpoint while TCM comes mostly from a metaphysical point of view. Furthermore, there are four principles in TPM but five in TCM. In addition, principles in TCM and TPM differ as follows: while in the former, the principles [having interactions in a dynamic process] are assumed to be directly related to phenomena, in the latter, they are explained with the mediated concept of "Mizaj"